Hospitality has been woven into our story, my story, almost since the beginning. I am the most recent in a long line of wanderers, people looking for a new home. Our stories tell us we are refugees, strangers, and immigrants. No matter which countries and spiritual traditions we claim, they are stronger because of people from somewhere else. Our […]
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Some people are convinced spiritual life is supposed to be reassuring. They believe spiritual life sustains them in times of trouble or doubt. When they face challenges, they rely on spiritual life to see them through. I understand spiritual life as more than helping us feel better in difficult times. One explanation is that spiritual life comforts
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We value time. Some of us believe time is money. We do not want anyone to waste our time. It is almost as if we could hoard spare moments or days in boxes to use them later. Some of us are anxious about time management. We want to spend time as effectively as we can. They are
Every step is a new beginning. Starting each new year, each new day, even getting out of bed each morning, we take a first step. We think things through, assess the risks, make a decision, and prepare to act. Sometimes we need to overcome fear or reluctance, or reassure ourselves we have chosen well. There are
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Each moment, each hour, each day, each week, each month, each year, we begin again. We do not start over because we want everything to be perfect. We do not continue beginning again to demonstrate our stubbornness, our determination. It is not as if we are refusing to stop, refusing to quit. We do not
We grasp tightly onto the knot at the end of our rope, almost at the end of our hope. Our hands, our fingers, are stiff and sore. Our arms shake from holding on so tightly for so long. Every fiber of who we believe we are is focused on not letting go. We wait, seemingly beyond hope, in
It is almost time for the stealth bombers to fly over the start of the Rose Parade again. What have we learned since the last time? 1. We may feel hopeless about making a difference. We may no longer believe in what we are doing. We may be discouraged, tired, ready to give up and
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Christmas is almost here. Only a few more days. We may have certain requirements about Christmas. Some of us need the right songs or movies or television shows, or even plays or poems. I know people who demand to taste specific foods before Christmas becomes real for them. There are people for whom Christmas does
We get the impression spiritual life is only for certain people. Most of us know, even if we have not experienced them ourselves, there are separate places for spiritual life. Some people go to specific buildings on particular days to practice spiritual life. There are cities and locations, often historic, where people go for spiritual life. It is
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We are people living in a world of deep darkness, looking for light. The darkness is all around us, seeping into how we live our lives and see ourselves. Some of us are afraid of the darkness and refuse to acknowledge its presence. The darkness makes some of us feel tired and frustrated. We want
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